A Pan of Her Own
by myownreality
Summary: Ron actually takes an interest in what Hermione is reading, and it has an interesting outcome.


Disclaimer: I don't own HP or PP…sad I know.

A Pan of Her Own

"What ya reading?" Ron asked his bushy-haired friend. Hermione looked up from her book at the young man that was sitting beside her on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Peter Pan," she stated as she resumed her reading.

"What subject is it about?" he asked, glancing curiously at the front cover. There was a picture of a boy dressed in leaves standing with his legs spread and his fists on his hips.

"It's not on a subject. It's a story," Hermione said.

"You mean it is _fiction_? The Hermione Granger is absorbed in something other than _facts_?" Ron joked, acting appalled. Hermione scowled at him. He just laughed at her look.

"No one said it was fiction, Ronald. I happen to believe in Peter Pan."

"Well, then tell me this fascinating, factual story," he directed, as he stretched out on the couch. Hermione rolled her eyes, but gave in. She marked her place in the book, settled herself comfortably and began her tale.

"Well, once there was a boy named Peter Pan who ran away from home because he didn't want to grow up. He was found by a fairy named Tinkerbell-"

"The fairy's name was Tinkerbell?" Ron scoffed, interrupting the story.

"Yes, it was. Now do you want to hear the story or not? If so, stop interrupting me."

"Alright, alright. Go on."

"As I was saying, Peter was found by Tinkerbell, Tink for short, and was taken to Neverland, a magical place where you never grow up, hence the name, full of adventures with mermaids and Indians. Oh, and pirates. The most feared pirate was there, Captain Hook. He was Peter's archenemy because one time Peter cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile, and the croc chased Hook around forevermore. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So Peter lived in Neverland with all the Lost Boys, boys who were other boys that had fallen out of their prams. If they were not claimed in seven days, they were taken to Neverland.

"Back in London, there was a young girl named Wendy Darling, who loved telling stories of pirates and adventures. Her unfulfilled ambition was to write a great novel of her adventures. Once she had them, of course. She had two younger brothers, Michael and John. Sometimes Peter would come to her window and listen to her stories, then go back and tell them to the Lost Boys. He loved Wendy's stories. But something terrible happened to Wendy. Her father told her she must grow up. The night she met Peter was to be her last on the nursery.

"It happened that one night Nana, the Darling children's St. Bernard, which was also their nursemaid, saw Peter, and tried to catch him. She ended up only catching his shadow, which Wendy found and put away in a drawer. The next night, Peter and Tink came to the nursery looking for Peter's shadow. They found it in the drawer, but he couldn't get it to stick. He tried rubbing it on with soap because he didn't know any better, but it wouldn't work. Finally, he gave up. He sat on the floor and started crying. This woke Wendy up.

" 'Boy,' she said, 'why are you crying?' Peter told her he wasn't crying, but that he couldn't get his shadow to stick back on. 'That's because you're trying to stick it on with soap,' she laughed. 'I could sew it on for you.' Peter agreed, and Wendy got out her sewing kit and proceeded to sew Peter's shadow back on for him. When she was done and Peter had made sure his shadow was firmly reattached, he exclaimed 'Oh the cleverness of me' like Wendy had done nothing. This, of course, offended her, and so she went to bed and pulled the covers over her head. Peter didn't want Wendy to be mad at him, so her ended up saying some very sweet things to her, and she was no longer mad. In fact, she wanted to give him a kiss. But when she told him so, he held out his hand, not knowing what a kiss was. So she gave him a thimble, instead. Peter told her that he liked her stories, especially the one about the guy who couldn't find the lady with the glass slipper. Wendy told Peter that he did find her, and that they lived happily ever after. Peter ran to the window, preparing to leave. Wendy didn't want him to leave, so she said that she knew lots of stories. Peter asked her to come with him to Neverland. But she said she didn't know how to fly. He said he'd teach her. She wanted to take her brothers with her, so he said yes. She woke them up, and Peter taught them how to fly. All they needed was faith, trust, and pixie dust. Once they were sprinkled with fairy dust, they just think happy thoughts and they lift you off the ground.

"Once they had all mastered it, Peter was ready to leave. But the children weren't so sure they wanted to leave. That is, until Peter mentioned the mermaids, Indians, and pirates. The boys flew out the window, but Wendy hesitated. Peter came up behind them and whispered, 'Forget them, Wendy. Forget them all. Come away to Neverland where you'll never, never have to think about grown-up things again.' To which she responded, 'Never is an awfully long time,' but he smiled at her, and she left with him."

"Oh Ron, look at the time! We have to get to bed," Hermione exclaimed. Apparently her story had taken longer than she had expected to tell.

"That's it? That's the amazing story?" Ron asked, disappointed at the turn out of the supposed wonderful tale.

"Oh, no! That's only the beginning. There is so much more. But it's late. And we need to get to bed," Hermione responded enthusiastically.

"Oh. Well, that's good. It would've been a pathetic story if it had ended then. So will we continue our tale tomorrow night, then?" he asked her. She was startled by his question.

"I suppose we can, that is, if you want to," she stammered.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't have asked otherwise. Well, 'night Hermione," Ron said as he reached the steps to the boys' dormitory. Hermione waved, picked up her book, and headed to her room.

The next night, Hermione was sitting on the couch reading again, and Ron came and sat down beside her.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Ready for what?" she asked back, her eyes not leaving the page she was reading.

"To tell me more about Peter Pan," he said as he stretched out more comfortably in his spot.

"Oh, you really want to hear more? I thought you were just kidding. Are you sure?" she asked him, her eye brows arched questioningly.

"Yea. You can't just leave a story hanging like that. It's torture. Alright, let's hear it."

"Alright, where was I?" she asked him, closing her book.

"Wendy has just decided to go to Neverland."

"Oh, right. So, they got to Neverland, and it was amazing. They bounced on the fluffiest clouds, and zoomed around the clearest, bluest sky they had ever seen. They saw Captain Hook's ship, the Jolly Roger. But, unfortunately, Hook saw them, too, and sent a cannon ball flying their direction. No one was hit, but Wendy went flying and the boys were left hanging off the cloud. Peter told Tink to go find Wendy, and he would take care of Hook. Now, Tink wasn't a bad fairy, but she was so small she only had room for one emotion at a time. And at that time, the emotion was jealousy. So, she devised a plan to get rid of Wendy. As Wendy was half floating, half falling towards the earth, Tink hurried to the Lost Boys and told them Peter wanted them to shoot the 'Wendy bird'. So they, shot at Wendy and one of them, Toodles, shot her down. It wasn't until she hit the ground that they realized it wasn't a bird, but a lady. Peter arrived and told them he had good news. He knew they end of Cinderella, but even better, he had brought the story teller with him. Then, the boys showed him her body. He was about to strike Toodles when they heard Wendy breathe. The arrow had not hit her, but the acorn she wore around her neck that Peter had given her as a kiss, after she gave him the thimble. They were going to take her to the tree house, but all of their hands were dirty. So they built a house around her, with a door and a chimney and windows and a doorknocker.

"When Wendy awoke and went outside she was greeted by all of the Lost Boys on bended knee, asking her to be their mother. It took a little persuading, but she agreed. They took her to the tree house where Peter, their "father" was. They were deciding on the punishment for the children that tried to kill their mother when Wendy remembered her brothers.

"Meanwhile, John and Michael had fallen into the jungle, and were being chased by wild animals. They got to a cave where there was a strange ticking sound coming from a huge rock. They knocked on it, only to find it was a huge crocodile, not a rock. It chased them out of the cave, where they got caught in a trap in a tree. A young Indian girl, who turned out to be Princess Tiger Lily, the Indian chief's daughter, saw them and laughed. Then, they were found by Hook, who captured all three of the children. He took them to the Black Castle, where he was going to chain them up and use them as bait to capture Peter.

"The mermaids are not as they are in story books. They are dark creatures in touch with all things evil. So, naturally, that is where Peter and Wendy went to find out about her brothers. If Hook had them, the mermaids would know. They did know, and they told Peter that Hook had taken them to the Black Castle. Peter and Wendy flew to the castle, and a fight broke out. In the end, all of the children escaped. They then went to a celebration at the Indian camp. Peter showed Wendy the fairy dance. It was beautiful and magical. Peter and Wendy danced high in the sky. They were having a lovely time until Peter reminded Wendy that it was all pretend. She asked him about his real feelings, happiness, sadness, jealously, anger, love. But he claimed to have never heard of love. She thought otherwise. They fought about it, until he said that she could just go home and take her feelings with her, and he flew off. But he didn't really want her to leave, so he went to her home and closed the window, so if she came back she would think she was forgotten and come back to Neverland. But Mrs. Darling forced the window back open, and he flew back.

"Meanwhile, back in Neverland, Wendy ran to her house and fell asleep crying. Hook and Tink, who had been banished because of the whole shoot down Wendy fiasco, had witnessed the whole Wendy-Peter-feelings thing, and had devised a plan. Hook's men kidnapped Wendy and took her aboard the ship. When she awoke, she found herself on the Jolly Roger. She found the Captain's quarters, and they had a talk. He said that Peter couldn't have feelings because it was part of the riddle of his being. Then, he offered her the job of storyteller on his ship. She said she'd think about it, and wondered what mother would think of her becoming a pirate. But the more she thought about it, the less she could remember about her mother. At dinner that night, she asked her brothers questions and realized that they couldn't remember their parents either. Peter came in and told the boys that he had heard of a new pirate named Red Handed Jill. When they got excited, he said it was just a storyteller, not knowing that it was Wendy. She burst out indignantly that Red Handed Jill might be a brave swordsman, but Peter said he'd run her through anyway. She grabbed a sword and told him to ready himself because she was Red Handed Jill. All of the boys protested, and she told Peter that he was just a boy. They fought, with swords, for a few seconds, but then they asked if Wendy was really to be a pirate, and she said no, that they were going home. Everyone was horrified. But she told her brothers that they must go home because they had forgotten their parents and they must leave before they, too, were forgotten. The other Lost Boys looked to Peter for help, but he just said they could leave if they wished. Oh, Ron. I've done it again. It's extremely late. We have to go to bed now, but I promise I'll finish the story tomorrow night."

"Alright. It is getting pretty good," Ron said, stifling a yawn. "Night."  
"Night."

The third night of their story-telling escapade found Hermione sitting in her usual spot on the couch, waiting for Ron to arrive.

"I see you are anxiously awaiting my arrival," he joked as he sat down and stretched out, once again, into a comfortable position.

"Ha ha. Well, I do enjoy telling the story. Alright, let's get started if we ever want to get finished. Let me see. Oh, yes. Wendy and the Boys talked it over and, with permission from Peter, decided that they would all go back to London. She asked Peter to come, too, but he knew that he'd have to go to school, and then to work, and soon he'd be a man, and he never wanted to grow up. So Wendy prepared Peter's pretend medicine for the last time, and left. When she got outside she was met by Hook's men. They captured her and the Boys and took them to the ship. Peter was asleep at the time, so he didn't know the others had been kidnapped. Hook snuck into the tree house and tried to kill Peter with his hook, but he couldn't reach him, so he took out the poison he always carried on him. It was tears from when Hook's eyes were red, which happened only when he clawed someone's belly, and was a mixture of hate, jealousy, and malice. It was instantly fatal and without antidote. He put a drop in Peter's medicine and as gone. Tink saw what Hook had done, and she hurried to stop him before he took the medicine. She tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen, so she got in front of his mouth and drank the medicine for him. At once she was freezing, and her light began to go out. But Peter saved her by getting people all across the world to say they believed in fairies.

"Meanwhile, onboard the Jolly Roger, Hook had all the children tied up. When Peter thought Tink had died, he was angry, and the skies went black and it started snowing. Hook thought that meant he was dead. He had Wendy tied to the mast, and asked her to tell the story of Peter Pan. She told him about Peter liking her stories, and he asked what kind of stories. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. Love stories? Adventures in which good triumphs over evil. But they all end in a kiss. A kiss. Hook realized that Peter did feel, he felt about Wendy. So he cut her loose and forced her to walk the plank. But she never hit the water. They thought the croc had swallowed her whole. While Hook had his back turned, Peter landed on the ship with Wendy in his arms, and all the Boys cheered. But he hid from Hook until Tink created a diversion. Them Peter showed himself.

"A battle ensued, in which everyone, pirates and Lost Boys, were fighting. It took a nasty turn when Hook grabbed Tink and shook fairy dust on himself, so he, too, could fly. So they fought in the air. Peter was winning, until Hook started playing mind games. He said he knew was Peter was. That he was a tragedy. His Wendy was leaving him. Why should she stay? He was incomplete. He said he saw Wendy in the future. She couldn't see or hear Peter. She had another, called husband. This weakened Peter, until with one blow, Hook knocked him down. Everyone on board stopped. The pirates grabbed the Boys and Wendy as Hook prepared to kill Peter. Suddenly Wendy cried out and head butted the pirate that held her. She threw herself on Hook to stop him. He threw her down next to Peter and silenced everyone for her farewell. She told Peter she was sorry that she must grow up. She went to give him something, but Hook grabbed her. She said it was just a thimble. 'This belongs to you, and always will,' and with that she kissed him. When she moved away, he started glowing. All of the Boys backed away and ducked. Suddenly, there was a blast that knocked all the pirates down as Peter shot into the air. The kiss had saved him. He grabbed his sword and continued to fight Hook with renewed strength. He told Hook he was old, alone, and done for. With that, Hook fell into the open jaws of the croc and was never seen again. Peter took command of the ship, and sailed back to London. The Darlings took in all of the Lost Boys, and Michael has brought back treasure he had gotten from the ship, so everyone was happy. Peter didn't stay, though. He couldn't grow up. He looked in the window at the happy family, and was sad. He had enjoyed countless things other children never would, but this was one joy he would never experience. As he turned to leave, Wendy saw his shadow and rushed over to the window and called to him. 'You won't forget me, will you?' and he responded 'Me? Forget? Never.' and he turned to leave, but she called out again, 'Will you come back?' and he responded 'To hear stories, about me.' and with that he waved and was gone, and she never saw Peter again. The end."

"The end?" Ron said. "How can that be the end?" Hermione looked at him, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Just what I said. There is no more to the story. It's pretty good after all, huh? Now do you see why I like it?" she said.

"Well, yea it's good. It's like a romance/action/adventure/fantasy all in one," he replied. She laughed at him.

"Yea. I've loved this story since I was a little girl. It's not just another fairytale, you know? But it always makes me sad. They made a movie out of it a few years back, and the first time I saw it I cried," she revealed to him.

"You cried? Why? It's not a sad story."

"It really is. Peter and Wendy are in love. It's so obvious. And her kiss belongs to him. It was her kiss that saved him, but she has to go home and grow up. And he goes back to Neverland, and she never sees him again. It's a tragic romance. It's not fair. They were meant to be. But fate, once again, had to go and mess everything up," Hermione responded passionately. Ron looked at her awestruck.

"Wow. I didn't think of it that way. I guess it is pretty sad. But if it's sad why do you like it so much? I mean it is a good story, but I don't think I'd like it so much if it always upset me," he questioned her.

"I don't know. Ever since I was a little girl, I just dreamed of Peter coming to take me away to Neverland. And the longing just became greater as we grew up. It is the one place I could go and not have to grow up anymore. I could leave all of the pain and terror here. There would be no more killing and Voldemort and Death Eaters. All of that would be far away and I'd never have to think about it. We were robbed of our childhood, Ron. Neverland gave that back. It's stupid, I know, but it is just comforting," she finished as a slight blush crossed her cheeks and she hid her face.

"No, it's not stupid. I understand. It helps you cope with everything that is going on. I bet everyone could deal with all of this stuff a little better if we all had a Neverland to escape to in our dreams. I admire it," Ron said, comforting her. She looked up at his smiling face, and a small smile graced her face, too.

"You mean it?" she asked him. He nodded. "That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, Ron." He looked at her incredulously.

"Is it really? Are you sure? I'm sure I've said something else nice," he replied. She shook her head. "Well, I guess I just thought a whole bunch more," he mumbled.

"What? I couldn't hear you," Hermione said as she leaned toward him to hear better.

"I said I must have just thought a bunch of nice things." he said. It was his turn to blush. She smiled at him, and took his hand, causing him to turn his eyes to her.

"I stand corrected. _That_ was the sweetest thing you've ever said." Ron looked at her with amazement. "Yes, Ron. I was wrong. It's not the first time. And it won't be the last. I was also wrong about something else. You don't really have the emotional range of a teaspoon. You've proved me wrong on that point, too," Hermione said. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he saw a shadow coming down the boys' staircase. It was Harry.

"Hey guys. I was wondering where you two had disappeared to," Harry greeted them as he entered the room. Hermione had dropped Ron's hand when she saw Harry, and they were now sitting back in their original positions on the couch.

"Oh, hi Harry. We were just talking. I was telling Ron about-" Hermione started, but she got cut off by Ron.

"Pixies. She was telling me about something she read about pixies. It was actually kinda interesting. If you're into that kinda stuff. You know," Ron finished for her, sending Hermione a look to tell her to follow his lead.

"Yea. Really interesting stuff. Oh, my goodness. Look at how late it is. I really have to get to bed. I've been getting to bed sort of late recently. Well, goodnight boys," Hermione said as she waved bye to the boys and headed up to her room. Harry looked after her confusedly.

"What's with her? She's acting kinda weird," he asked as he turned to Ron.

"What do you mean what's with her? She seems fine to me. Well, I guess I'm gonna head to bed, too. All that pixie talk's got me beat. See ya in the morning," Ron said as he, too, headed to his room. Harry stared after him, too. Something was definitely strange about those two. Oh well, he thought. Guess I'll head to bed then, too. And with that he left, leaving the Common Room empty.

The next night, Hermione was sitting in her usual spot on the couch. She was reading her Peter Pan book when Ron came and sat down beside her. They hadn't gotten a chance to talk about the night before, yet. She closed her book and turned to look at him.

"Ron, what was that all about last night? Why didn't you let me tell Harry about Peter Pan? It's not like we were doing anything wrong," Hermione asked Ron as he got settled.

"Yea, I know, but I thought maybe we could just keep it between us. It will be our thing. Peter Pan can be our little secret. It just didn't feel right to tell Harry. And we didn't lie to him, exactly. You did tell me about a pixie, right?" he asked her. His earnest expression made her melt.

"Of course. We'll keep it our little secret. Just between us. I like the sound of that." Blushing, she smiled at him, and he blushed and smiled back. "I like this side of you. You should always be this sweet." She smiled as his blush deepened. He looked up into her eyes, and felt the irresistible urge to kiss her. He was about to lean in when a brilliant idea popped into his head. He leaned in and whispered,

"This belongs to you, and always will," and with that he kissed her. When he pulled back, she was smiling, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Oh, no. What's wrong? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I'm not upset, Ron. It looks like I've found the one my kiss belongs to. You know, this is supposed to be the biggest adventure of all," she replied, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Then let's make it," Ron responded as he grabbed her hand and led her out the portrait hole to take her flying to their Neverland. But, unlike Peter and Wendy, they got to live happily ever after.

a/n: Okay, so it's not my best work, but I _love_ Peter Pan. I couldn't help myself. The story is mostly the story of Peter, but it's alright. I didn't really know where to go with this story, after she finished telling him about Peter. So it ended up a get together fic. Maybe I'll rewrite it as a friendship thing. What do you think? Review if you want, I won't be pushy. But I'd enjoy it.


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